Stegosaurus (National Geographic plush dinosaurs by Lelly)

Review and photographs by ‘Resurrection of the dinosaurs’, edited by Dinotoyblog

This is my first review for the Dinosaur Toy Blog. Stegosaurus is among my favorite dinosaurs and I have plenty of Stegosaurus figures/toys (see group photo below). This is why I chose this charming prehistoric plush toy for my first review. Today, we will take a closer look at the National Geographic plush Stegosaurus by Italian company, Lelly. To my knowledge, this is the first time that a National Geographic toy has been reviewed on the Dinosaur Toy Blog.

Stegosaurus lived in the Jurassic Period, the dinosaurs’ golden age. Stegosaurus means ‘Roofed Lizard’, because it had two rows of broad, pointed, bony plates along its back, starting from the head and running to the tail. At the end of the tail were four sharp spikes for defence, also known as the ‘thagomizer’. The plates on its back possibly served a dual purpose-of defending itself from the meat-eaters, and to adjust its body heat. In cool weather, it might have erected its plates like solar panels to absorb heat; when hot, it could lower or raise its plates to catch a cooling breeze. Another suggestion is that Stegosaurus used its plates for display or to intimidate a rival/enemy. Its brain was the size of a walnut, placing it definitely among the least intelligent dinosaurs. The largest species had a body the size of a double-decker bus.

This Stegosaurus is one of six dinosaurs produced by Lelly under their National Geographic licence. The others in the series are equally popular ‘go-to’ species: Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Argentinosaurus (okay, perhaps this one’s a bit more obscure!), Spinosaurus and Velociraptor. Each species comes in two sizes, and this is the smaller version of the Stegosaurus, which measures 16 inches (40cm) long and 8 inches (21cm) high. It comes with a fact card attached, which you can keep or remove.

​This plush Stegosaurus obviously has many inaccuracies. The head is too big and the front feet have three toes instead of five. There are some accuracies to note: the body is in the correct posture,  it has the correct arrangement of dorsal plates and the four spikes/’thagomizer’ on the tail, and the front legs are smaller than the hind legs. To be honest, I mainly only take accuracy into serious consideration for dinosaur figures, whereas I’m less critical of plush toys!

The body is covered with very naturalistic reptile-like scales. The colours are also natural, with some dark green spots merging with the dark tan brown on the body, and the plates are dark green also. The dark green color on the plates reminds me of the colour of human veins visible on the surface of our skin. Stegosaurus‘ plates, being full of blood vessels, may well have been dark green in life. Moving onto the head, it has beady, glossy eyes, the kind commonly found in plush toys and the old Tyco figures. These look very realistic.

Overall, the verdict. It is not perfect, but without a doubt it will please little ones in kindergartens and learning schools. It pleased me as a 14 year old child – I fell in love when I saw it. If you are a plush collector or a Stegosaurus fan, you can get it for yourself, or alternatively, please a little one with it this Christmas! You can get it on Amazon.com here, and other online sites. When surfing on Amazon I saw only one left in stock. Similarly, when I bought mine at a local shop, it was the last one available. So, get this toy now if you can.

I enjoy reading reviews on the Dinosaur Toy Blog and I enjoyed writing this one. So here it is guys, yes, I finally did it! I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018!